Real Weddings: Janelle & Dennis

Janelle Pitaniello’s favorite color is Tiffany blue. Even if you don’t know her, you’d know this fact if you looked at her wedding reception photos. The high tables near the bar, guest tables, cocktail hour tables, and dessert stations all featured iconic bright blue/green linens. The signature cocktail at the reception was bright blue, thanks to Blue Curacao. The wedding invitations featured the color, and if Janelle had her way, every guest would have worn Tiffany blue accessories. Finding flowers to complement the color was a cinch.

“When I was planning my wedding, I knew right away that I had to have Tiffany blue, but since the color isn’t found in nature, I went with all white flowers,” Janelle says. The result was a deeply dramatic effect enhanced by the glamorous background in Key Hall at Proctor’s Theater in Schenectady.

The story of how Dennis and Janelle met begins with a hayride. Almost 10 years ago, friends introduced the two on a seasonal hay-wagon ride. But circumstances kept the relationship from budding: Janelle was in a relationship and moving to Florida. They met six years later in Saratoga, but things didn’t progress past small talk. Finally, a few months later, they met at a sports bar, where their shared love of the Dallas Cowboys brought them together.

“It only took a few months for me to realize that he was the one,” Janelle says.

“It’s funny how things work out in the end,” Dennis says.

In October 2011, Janelle arrived at the home they shared to the aroma of her favorite dinner: steak and potatoes. After a quiet dinner, Dennis got down on one knee for an old-fashioned marriage proposal. Laughter, shrieking and dancing ensued, followed by a trip to Janelle’s parents’ to show off the engagement ring.

First step was booking a wedding venue, and although they originally wanted it held in Saratoga Springs, early August proved to be an impossible time in the busy city’s racing season. Janelle found the Key Hall website and fell in love with the formal atmosphere. It was a picture-perfect Cinderella wedding.

The couple wanted their event to be fun rather than overwhelmingly sentimental. Small touches created a unique atmosphere. Janelle bought Swarovski crystals and had a pedicure done that included bedazzling her toes, displayed by her open-toe blue wedding shoes. For the men, blue striped socks stood out spectacularly with their black suits and dress shoes.

A sign near the bar at the reception read, “Drink vodka and dance on the table.” At the candy buffet — overflowing with white and Tiffany blue candies — was a sign, “Take a little, take a lot. Enjoy yourselves, we tied the knot!” Next to their wedding cake, a sign read “You are the icing on my cake.”

They put out two bins of flip-flops with a sign that said “A little treat for your dancing feet.” Janelle had dozens of cupcakes made with green frosting and golf tees, and chocolate balls wrapped in white foil to look like golf balls, paying homage to Dennis’ favorite sport. Guests also enjoyed a Sno-cone machine and a s’mores bar where they could make their own quintessential summertime treat.

“I’m such a dessert person,” Janelle admits. “We had wedding cake, a cupcake station, the s’mores station, candy table and a coffee and cordial station. I also wanted a fried-dough station, but people stopped me, and it was a good thing because we had way too much food.”

The only glitch happened after the wedding when the newlyweds went to their hotel room to change and go out for an after-party. When they tried to open the door to their suite on the top floor, the key didn’t work. Dennis made three trips down to the front desk before a security guard informed them that the door was broken.

“We ended up having to sit in the hallway for 30 minutes before someone could let us into the room,” Janelle says. “One of our friends happened to be walking out of their room when we were sitting in the hallway and they took a picture of us. The look on my face is priceless.”

Dennis, who wasn’t strapped into a heavy wedding dress, was unperturbed. “I looked at the whole situation as being funny,” Dennis says. “I think I was actually laughing as we sat there in the hall.”

If they had their wedding day to do again, Dennis and Janelle say they’d try to squeeze in time to taste some of the food from their reception, a menu they chose so carefully.

“I think I had one bite of chicken,” Janelle says.

“I did have s’mores,” Dennis says. “And luckily, we did get to take some of the candy home.”

One Detail
In January 2008, a friend invited Janelle to a restaurant in Albany, where the Giants were playing the Cowboys and everyone there seemed to be a Giants fan. Janelle and Dennis were at the bar ordering drinks, and she said, “I hate the Giants.” His response? “Me too, can I get a hug?” They talked and exchanged numbers, went on a date the following weekend and have been together ever since.